The Latest On Jamil Hussein

(Bumped to the top – Originally posted Jan 9th, 1015hrs PST)

I’ve been in touch with Bill Costlow (the CPATT (Civilian Police Assistance Training Team) representative) since he has been back in-country and I have a few interesting developments on this story.

First, the AP story:

Ministry spokesman Brig. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, who had previously denied there was any such police employee as Capt. Jamil Hussein, said in an interview that Hussein is an officer assigned to the Khadra police station, as had been reported by The Associated Press.

But guess what Bill just confirmed?  Brig. Abdul-Karim Khalaf never acknowledged that there was a Capt. Jamil Hussein assigned to the Khadra station, he confirmed to the AP that there was a Capt. Jamil Ghdaab Gulaim assigned there.  Apparently he is the source for the AP even though he still, to this day (according to Bill Costlow), denies being the source.

So what do we have so far?

That the AP has lied again in their response.  The AP specifically stated that Brig. Abdul-Karim Khalaf acknowledged Jamil Hussein exists when he did no such thing.  He acknowledged a completely different name the AP gave him but not a Jamil Hussein.

Then, the AP’s source denies he is the source.

Bill updates:

The AP has been citing Cpt Jamil Hussein Gulaim.  The police officer’s actual name is  "Jamil Ghdaab Gulaim".

Apparently the AP accepts this as the source in question (see their article and also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamil_Hussein)

I guess the real answer here is that if the AP had used his correct name to begin with, the MOI could have responded faster.

I think many people are also missing something here: 

When a police officer tells a reporter that six murders have occured and the bodies were taken to a non-existant morgue, investigators want to know why — this has nothing to do with cover ups, as some media reports seem to insinuate — the idea of hiding a mere six killings in Bagdad is laughable.

He further updates when questioned about his possible arrest:

I don’t see CPT Gulaim being charged with anything — he denies speaking with any media and the AP isn’t pushing the issue here.

So is the Jamil Hussein saga really over?

I think not.

UPDATE

I have asked Bill to double check and triple check the fact that Hussein is not in this guys name at all since the ramifications of it not being in there is huge.  It’s a huge no-no If the AP used a pseudonym without acknowledging that fact. 

UPDATE II

Patterico is a bit dubious:

Color me dubious. Curt seems to be leaping straight to the conclusion that, if Costlow is right, the AP has misreported what it was told by Brig. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, the MOI spokesman. But there’s another possibility, that Curt would do well to keep in mind: that Khalaf said one thing to the AP, and another to Costlow.

I’m reading between the lines here, but it sounds like Costlow is getting his information from Khalaf. If that’s true, it would be a good idea to keep in mind that we don’t know whether to trust Khalaf. Sure, the AP could have gravely misrepresented, in an easily refutable manner, what Brig. Abdul-Karim Khalaf told them. But it seems to me to be more likely that Khalaf is just another Iraqi telling everybody what they want to hear.

Point taken.  As I and many others have said in the past the existence of Jamil is not the big story.  It’s all the evidence, or lack thereof, that this Burning Six incident ever happened and the reporting done by the AP of the "incident" using Iraqi stringers.

Now if Bill can confirm that Jamil’s given name does not have Hussein in it then there is just that much more evidence to prove that the AP is misreporting the facts in this story.

UPDATE III

Bill Costlow has just confirmed that Jamil does not have Hussein in his name, and he has also confirmed that the MoI spokesperson DID speak to the AP and confirmed that he was their source:

Curt,

Seems like every time I talk to somebody about this guy, his name changes.  His personnel record says his name is: Jamil Gulaim (Redacted).

Spokesman BG Abdul-Kareem has spoken with members of the AP in Baghdad and has confirmation that he is their source.  That said, CPT Jamil still denies ever speaking to them.

As far as the MOI is concerned, CPT Jamil gave the AP bad information: there’s still no evidence the six murders occurred.

V/R
Bill

(I have redacted the real last name which has been confirmed to NOT be Hussein due to fear for his safety)

So there you are.  I have responded back to Bill with the question how the BG can confirm that he is the source if he denied being the source? 

That being said, the AP used a pseudonym for Jamil without acknowledging that fact.   Confederate Yankee did an interview with five bigwigs in the world of journalism asking about the use of pseudonym’s in reports and got the following:

"Also, if a reporter identifies a source by a pseudonym he has an obligation to tell the reader that he is not using the source’s real name and explaining why not. You can’t just make up a name and use it in a story. That’s not reporting, that’s fiction writing."

"Normally, if a reporter is introducing a pseudonym for purpose of concealing identity so as to protect a source from harm, this would be disclosed. "Names were changed to protect…."

"If the reporter did not state clearly in the articles that a pseudonym was being used and the reason it was being used, yes it was a breach of ethics. Simply put it was not true and was deceiving the consumer of the information–both fundamental breaches of the ultimate responsibility the journalist has to the audience of the work."

Breach of ethics most definitely.   The fact they reported on a incident with no real evidence it occurred and when presented with evidence that this thing did not occur they put their heels down and yelled "we wrote it so it MUST be true" is just as bad in my book.  They reported rumors and innuendo to keep their storyline flowing.  Namely that Iraq is a tinderbox of violence, chaos and destruction.

 UPDATE IV

Don’t quite follow Allah’s logic here:

I would think the bigger scoop is the fact that we now have independent confirmation, via Curt’s source, that the man known to AP readers as “Jamil Hussein” exists and is indeed a police officer at Khadra.

A man exists who denies he is the source, whose name is NOT Jamil Hussein…that’s it. The only other information we get is that the Iraqi MoI has confirmed that he was the source for the AP which I question since how in the world do they confirm he is the source if he DENIES being the source?

UPDATE V

Received an answer to the question on how the MoI can confirm an employee is a source for the AP when the man denies being the source:

Appreciate the help Bill.  I still don’t understand how the BG could confirm he is the source if he denies being the source tho.

There has been some sideline discussion between MOI PA and the AP.  We’re at a point where the MOI needs to look to the future and establish a new relationship with the AP — hopefully it’ll be a friendship that enables them to avoid issues like this in the future.

V/R
Bill

I don’t know about you but this sounds suspiciously like the MoI has agreed to admit he is the source for the AP in exchange for a better relationship with the AP…..

UPDATE VI

Allah once more:

Look, you can’t claim for weeks on end (replete with mocking graphics) that a guy doesn’t exist and then, when evidence emerges that he does, turn on a dime and trumpet the fact that he used a pseudonym as HUGE news. It’s news. That’s as much as can be said for it.

I said its huge news when the AP has breeched its own ethics, as Confederate Yankee has pointed out here.  Whether you personally feel that it’s big news depends on personal opinion I suppose.  I feel it’s big, Allah doesn’t…so be it.

As far as turning on a dime, I disagree.  When the AP announced he was real I was skeptical.  Now we have confirmation that he denies being the source (to which Allah attributes to the source being afraid for his safety, when he has no facts to back this assertion up, just opinion….I mean do ya think he may actually NOT be the source?) along with the fact that it now appears the AP and MoI have come to an agreement (see update V) in which the MoI agrees he is the source and they will now have a better relationship.

The whole thing smells to me.  We have a story where six Sunni’s are burned alive along with four mosques.  The four mosques is quickly changed to one.  We have a total of four witnesses.  One recanted and three wouldn’t give their names.  We have no video or pictures of the scene, no identifications of the bodies.  No family members of the victims have come forward.  There was no outcry from the Sunni community which causes many in the press to dismiss the story.  The AP reported the story was also confirmed via Hospital and Morgue workers at a hospital who has no morgue, then the story changed to the bodies being taken to a cemetary immediately after.

Then on top of all this we have a police spokesperson whose name does not exist.  At first, due to this name not existing, we all (well, most of us) believed he was fake.  Then the AP comes out and announces that the MoI has admitted he does exist.  The AP writes a story in which they explicitedly state the MoI agreed Jamil Hussein exists.  But hold your horses, the man they fingered is not named Jamil Hussein AND he denies being the source.

The whole friggin story is HUGE to me since if anyone really believes this is an isolated incident they are deluding themselves.

UPDATE VII

What Ace said:

You also can’t claim for weeks (replete with dismissive, haughty I-shall-not-dignify-these-accusations-with-a-response stonewalling) that of course a "Capt. Jamil Hussein" exists, why we’ve been talking to him for years, it’s your own stupid faults you can’t find "Capt. Jamil Hussein," why, if you were over here in Iraq rather than on your soft white asses in your climate-controlled cubicles you could find "Capt. Jamil Hussein" easily yourself (all the stores sell him in six-packs), and then turn on a dime and claim that of course everyone should have known you were using a fake name, and had they just searched through all possible names containing the first name "Jamil," everyone could have easily confirmed the existence of a "Jamil Not Hussein" themselves.

UPDATE VIII

Don’t you just love the fact that the White House press secretary checks out the blogs?  Here is Tony Snow on the Hugh Hewitt show today:

HH: As we saw during the summer war between Hezbollah and Israel, Tony Snow, Hezbollah went to such lengths as to stage atrocities, buildings blown up, and victims left in there.

TS: Yeah.

HH: Are you, as the head of the White House communications operation, prepared to immediately get out there and quarrel with that and stop those sorts of stories from metastasizing?

TS: Yeah, I am looking forward to meeting Captain Jumil Hussein, but other than that, yes. You’ve seen the latest on that, right?

HH: No, I haven’t. I haven’t read today. Is he back and not existing again?

TS: He’s back to non-existence.

HH: (laughing) But that’s the new media war…

TS: Yeah.

The AP, always fodder for a good laugh.